BELLECOUR, MADAME

born Dec. 20, 1730, Lamballe, Fr. died Aug. 5, 1799, Paris original name Rose-perrine Le Roy De La Corbinaye, also called Mademoiselle Beaumnard French actress noted for her performances in works of Molire and Regnard. The daughter of an aged artillery captain of noble ancestry, Rose-Perrine left home at the age of 13 and took up with an itinerant comedian called Beaumnard. She decided to adopt both his name and his calling, and under his auspices she made her debut in 1743 at the Opra-Comique of the fair at Saint-Germain. Beautiful and flirtatious she was immediately successful. She toured for several years with a variety of companies, entertained troops of the Marshal de Saxe-and, it is said, the Marshal himself-and had many amatory encounters. In 1749 she made her debut at the Comdie-Franaise, first appearing there as Dorine in Molire's Tartuffe; her success was immediate. She excelled in the role of soubrette, becoming extremely popular. She retired from the public eye in 1756 and did not reappear until 1761, by which time she had married Bellecour. She resumed a highly successful career as Madame Bellecour, appearing to wide acclaim in soubrette parts in the plays of Molire and Jean-Franois Regnard. She retired again in 1790. The French Revolution terminated her pension, forcing her to attempt a final comeback. Her failure was pathetic, and she died in poverty.